The Psyche's View
by inferi
Summary: [FearDotCom] What really happened to Mike Reilly after going onto the mysterious site? He promised he wouldn't go, and now he's going to pay. My story of Mike's P.O.V. during the time he went on the site to the end of the movie. [Finished] R:R!
1. A Deadly Website

Chapter One: A Deadly Website  
  
I Should have stayed with Terry that night and watched over that sleeping beauty. It was a stupid idea for me to go back there, but my curiosity was nudging at the back of my brain. What really did happen to Denise? Driving to her apartment, I kept wondering why I took this assignment in the first place. The Feds wanted me to give up, hand it over to them, but I wouldn't give up. Alistair had gone too far this time and I needed to catch that bastard, before another poor soul was tormented.  
  
I didn't know what attracted me to this case, but once I was assigned to it, I couldn't let it drop from my mind. The fact that this doctor had gone mad and started to experiment on his victims alive caught my attention, this lunatic had to be brought down. He liked women. He liked them as his patients, but there was this one woman that Alistair had tortured. Jeannie. A beautiful woman attracted to modeling, but the doctor had abducted her and used her as an online lecture. Nine months had passed since she disappeared and following abductions continued of women. That sick fuck posted his dissecting online. People really do love death and science, or anything related to real-life gore.  
  
Every-time he'd murder a helpless woman, the site would change. I'd have a lead, and then he was gone again. Every goddamn time, I would loose him. And then the letters came. Alistair had an obsession of writing me love letters, well as Sykes joked about. The doctor loved pestering me for he knew I was looking for him. He loved torturing me with his little notes of what really happened to those women.  
  
I arrived at Denise's house later in the night, just hours after her death. She got to close to something on that site, and someone killed her. Walking in the hallway, I see the yellow police barrier which blocks off her room. Upon entering, a cold chill ran down the back of my spine. It was dark inside, but the numbers on the walls and floor glowed a fluorescent white. The place was a mess. Tables, chars and everything were out of place.  
  
"Oh God, Denise," I say staring in disbelief. These numbers. What do they mean? I make my way towards her computer. Terry made me promise not to go on that site, but my curiosity had gotten the better of me. I had to know what was on that website. I sit down and scan onto Denise's computer.  
  
I type in the words 'feardotcom.com.' I keep arguing to myself whether I should go, but I hit enter, as if my hands had control over me. black smoke emits from the center and fills the entire screen. An old abandoned factory flashes, and entering the doorway of the mine. Nothing scary at all, but the next images that show on the screen are quite disturbing.  
  
Knifes and scalpels puncture a body. Screams of horror radiate the sound box leaving me knowing Alistair did this. There is too much blood and cutting away of flesh that I don't know whom the people were, but I knew they were all female. A back of a women pops into the screen and as she turns around I see she is much cleaner than the victims are. As she faces me, the woman begins to speak, as do the letters in which she spoke.  
  
"Do you like to watch?" She says to me. Images of torture appear on the screen. I just sit and watch in confusion. "Do you want to see more?" I curiously click 'yes' on the monitor. "Do you want to hurt me.Mike?"  
  
I leaned back. "Jeannie."  
  
"I know who you are and I know what you really want."  
  
A text box popped onto the screen. I typed in the words; 'Did you kill Denise?'  
  
"Time to play. Time for us to become one."  
  
'How do I play?'  
  
"Find me. You have forty-eight hours."  
  
'What do I get if I win?'  
  
"Me."  
  
'What happens if I loose?'  
  
"You die. Do you want to play? What are you afraid of?"  
  
Her words stuck to me. I loose, I die. I thought for a second. What was I afraid of anyway? I clicked 'yes.' The computer screen then went to a close-up of an eye, then to a circular white object. It looked like a child's bouncy ball, but I had no time to re-think that, for it had felt like something hit me. Wincing in pain, images flashed through my eye sockets.  
  
Images more gruesome and terrifying jolted throughout my entire body. Jeannie had been pictured in my mind. Alistair had fun with her, for I saw as she was slowly being killed. These visions were hurting me, as I clutched onto my head. I didn't even feel as I fell to the ground, my body pounding on the surface.  
  
Agonizing screams were the only sounds I could hear, as I watched from the inside of my head. Jeannie was on the floor, on her hands and knees, naked, covered in white. Was this all in Jeannie's mind, or did Alistair really do this to her? More images flashed through my brain; the doctor putting on his gloves, a hand covered in blood, Jeannie tied up being dissected. The images kept repeating each other until everything went completely black. 


	2. Loosing My Mind

Chapter Two: Loosing My Mind  
  
Who knows how long I had been on the ground, but my head was killing me. I get up slowly, trying to focus on everything, but a single white line was in the middle of my vision. Dammit, I yell at myself, wishing I had an aspirin. My sight had also become blurred, making it hard for me to walk straight. I had made it out to the lobby, holding onto the walls for support; I was in no condition to drive home.  
  
Silence filtered the apartment complex and I wished for any sign of human contact. Shit! The sound of thousands of skittering feet skitter across the hall. I whirl around to see nothing, but only those damn florescent lights that dim the complex. This place had always given me the creeps. Bouncing repetitively continued towards my way, as a white ball rolls to my feet. What the fuck is going on here? I pick up the ball, examining it. It looks vaguely familiar. Scanning it, a singeing sensation burns my hands and I drop it in pain.  
  
I watch as the ball starts melting and deforming into something horrid and I make a run for the elevator. I can hear it bouncing closer towards me. Fuck. I make a mad dash to the opening/closing elevator doors just in time. I hit the buttons to close the sliding door just as the sphere draws ever so closer. I press more buttons to get me to the main floor. Jesus Christ! I tell myself, breathing heavily, listening to the humming of the elevator. The car moves as if it were actually working, but when the doors open again, I see the same lobby to Denise's place as before. This isn't right. I tell myself and push the correct buttons this time. I lean against the wall and turn to my right. Shit! I yell seeing a ghastly woman in my sight.  
  
I don't remember her coming in. "Sorry. Did I scare you?" She says, applying her lipstick.  
  
Who was this woman? She looked oddly familiar. Like I had seen her once before, but I couldn't see behind her Vail. The elevator beeped and the door slid open, out into the lobby. The ghostly woman walked out, dropping a pair of her gloves. I hesitated, but bent down to pick them up. "Miss you dropped." I say but am stopped when she lashes out in front of me and an image of a horrid woman screaming burns into my mind.  
  
That mysterious woman I saw just now, was Jeannie, and those images placed before me were her yet again. Images of her being killed. Images of her being cut up, all through Jeannie's mind. Images of her pain, all entering my brain. It hurt like hell, worse than before and I gritted my teeth, taking it all in. everything went completely black and I was out.  
  
I don't know how long I slept in the darkness, maybe I was awake the whole time, swallowed in oblivion, but those nightmares wouldn't go away. Jeannie's pain and torture, through the eyes of her own, floating within my memory, but my own fears were coming after me. Dreams of my past. I dreamt of my father. Dreamt of when I was a little kid. Watching the things he'd done to me, threatening me and eventually beating me. Replaying the events over and over in my sleep, as if feeling the pain once again. I feared that he would come after me and eventually murder me.  
  
"Mike?" A voice calls out to me, as a cold hand is placed upon my neck. "He's alive. Get him out of her," that same calm-toned male voice says.  
  
"It was her," I say, not fully understanding myself.  
  
"Excuse me?" That voice asks.  
  
"The woman I was looking for."  
  
"Who is that, Detective?"  
  
I finally had opened my eyes and we made it outside. Thank god I was no longer tapped in that place. They had laid me onto a gurney and were taking me to the hospital. I doubt they could help what I had just been diagnosed with. Blood coming out of your eyes and nose, dying your worst death. There was no cure. "Who was that?" I say, questioning the young medic, "I saw her."  
  
Who'd you see?" A beautiful voice asks me. Terry! No, I didn't want her to see me, as glad as I was to have her by my side.  
  
"The dead girl," I say, trying to make myself sane.  
  
"What dead girl?"  
  
"Jeannie Richardson. I saw her," I paused. Pain jolted throughout my head. "Periapt was only half right."  
  
"What do you mean?" I could tell she didn't know what I was talking about. I seemed all right in my own mind, but could I really not make any sense at all?  
  
"It's not just energy."  
  
"I don't understand."  
  
My mind was going a thousand miles a minute, pounding against my skull and bones. The headache was almost unbearable become worse and it became a struggle to communicate. "She's out there, alive in the wires. Her will is strong. She can live in the object around you."  
  
Not even I understood myself now. I was trying to tell her Jeannie was on that site, haunting it, causing the poor people who accidentally stumbled upon that site, to be murdered. Blood starting dripping out of my nose and onto my face, but I didn't care. Poor terry was looking at me with dreadful eyes. She seemed almost upset that I lied to her. That I went on that site, and became a bumbling idiot.  
  
"Don't go there alright. Promise me," I told her, seeming calm, but a force came out of me, showing my true concern for her.  
  
I began to yell, as the medics lured me away into the van. "Tell me you won't go there.Don't go there.Promise me you won't go there.Don't go there!" my words repeating over each other. I really didn't want her to go on that site. I was scarring Terry because I was going insane. No! I wouldn't let that happen. I needed to calm down. Needed to figure out how I was going to stay sane, survive that stop that son of a bitch doctor.  
  
The doors slammed, as I caught a last glimpse of that beauty standing drenched in the rain. I lied down and the medics started to attend to me. "What happened?" One of them said.  
  
"Got to close," I smirked, feeling light headed.  
  
"To what?"  
  
"My curiosity got the better of me. I needed to find the truth and got what was coming to me."  
  
"To what happened to that girl earlier here."  
  
"Not just Denise. It's the Website, it's Alistair. There both connected to Jeannie."  
  
The medic gave me a concerned/confused look, like I was psycho babbling. I knew I was, and I knew that Terry worried I was loosing my mind. No one understood me, and no one would until I figured out what the hell was up with that site. All I knew is that Jeannie was a vengeful ghost killing innocent humans for wondering onto the site. First thing was, I needed to get out of the hospital. 


	3. It's A Childhood Fear

Chapter Three: It's A Childhood Fear  
  
I don't remember getting to the hospital at all. I must've dozed off, because I didn't even feel as the medics placed me from the gurney to a separate bed. The only thing I could think of and remember at that time where my nightmares. And yes, I do believe I had actually fallen asleep. This nap of mine was not peaceful, like I had wished all of them to be after visiting the site and I knew they weren't going to be calm for a while. Not until this case was solved would I be rid of this torturous headache. Not until the case was solved, or I died. Who knew, maybe in death would my fears still haunt me too.  
  
I hoped I would live long enough to see Terry once more. Make sure that she was safe and away from danger. I don't think I've ever cared this much for someone ever. I don't know why I was attracted to her; maybe it was her striking beauty and personality. Or maybe because we were on the same case together and it was fate. Yea, sure that's it, fate. Damn, reasonable fate. Screw fate! It's got me nowhere in this world, so why should I thank it now?  
  
Ever since I took this case I haven't dated much. But then again, I never had much of a relationship before I became a detective. I was the quiet guy in my school, always staying to himself. Never had many friends, but there were a few people I could Call my pals. I was always interested in the police business. I would watch movies where actors carried around guns, catching the bad guys, and I thought to myself, 'I want to do that.' So here I was, risking my life, going out on an adventure, meeting the woman of my dreams, and I have to thank fate.  
  
Damn these images. They keep tormenting me, even in my dreams. I thought I was never afraid of anything, but I was wrong. My father was a real jerk. A complete waste of human space. He'd drink and constantly bicker that my mother and I were no good. So he'd beat us to try to make us learn our lesson. A childhood fear, coming back at me with a vengeance. Jeannie was screwing with me, trying to distract me.  
  
'How can I help you if I'm like this?' I yell within my own realm.  
  
Jeannie grabs a frightened Terry and digs a knife into her chest. Blood drips down her white shirt. Everything in my own mind was tinted black and white, but Terry's blood shown a bright crimson red. 'Do you like to watch?' Jeannie says as Terry falls to the floor, blood coming out of her mouth.  
  
'You can hurt me all you want Jeannie. Just don't hurt her!'  
  
I run to Terry's body, but my surroundings change and Terry is no longer there, only Jeannie. She has her back to me. 'Dammit! Do you hear me?'  
  
I grab hard on her shoulder and whirl her around. Jeannie's face had become disfigured. It was no longer young and beautiful, but ugly and mangled. 'Jesus!' I yell and back up.  
  
She starts walking after me. 'Do you want to hurt me?'  
  
'I already told you. No!'  
  
Jeannie disappears suddenly and my father runs through her dissolving body. He has a baseball bat in his hand. My father's prized baseball bat, which he loved more than his family. I stand erect and wait for the blow, as my father comes after me.  
  
A phone rings and I am woken by it. "Hello?" I hear that same gorgeous voice. It's Terry! I wanted to get up to greet her, but something held me back. Some strange un-seeable force. "God damn you. What do you want?"  
  
Someone on the other line was pestering her. Pain shot through my body, jolting my nerves, forcing me still. 'Jeannie!' I yell at her from within my head.  
  
"Where are you?" Terry I'm here for you. Be strong. "Leave me alone! Where are you?"  
  
Her voice began to trail off, just as my body was set free. I sit up, getting ready to go after her, but some strong force hits the back of my head. Like a baseball bat finding the ball. Stars surround my vision and a high ringing entered my ear lobes. I could taste blood in my mouth and felt my body fall into the bed.  
  
I yet again had fallen into slumber-ness, but when I woke, I could not remember any dreams I had had. Thank god! I touched my mouth, clean. An attendant must've cleaned the blood. Have to find Terry. Have to make sure she's okay. I thought of a way out, looking at the window. I got out of the bed, taking the I.V. out of my arm and opening the window. I kick the bars out, which blocked away any intruders, hoping not to make a lot of sound and hoisted myself out. I looked below me and a trash bin had been placed under my room.  
  
Should I dare it? I can't believe I even asked myself a stupid question like that. I was only a couple stories up, and the fall wouldn't kill me, maybe harm me, but I was already damaged enough. I tore off my stickers that had been placed on my chest for the heart monitor, threw them next to the bed, and let go. I fell feet first on the bin and tripped over my own feet. I slid on my back and landed headfirst on the ground. "Fuck!" I cursed at my stupidity, clutching my head.  
  
"No time to stop, need to go," I scolded myself, cautiously getting up.  
  
I run away from the hospital, knowing I'm going sideways, not caring, but my vision is blurred. Someone would think I was a drunk, if they saw me. I really fucked up my head this night. I reach a subway, buy my ticket and figure out where the hell I am and ride the tram till I get to Denise's block. Why am I going back there? Well, I do need my gun. Good thing I had another one in the car. Damn it! I say, fidgeting for my keys. The medics must've taken them out of my pocket, while I was being taken care of. Fuck! They took my wallet too.  
  
I mumble under my breath and cover my hand with my jacket. I smash my window and the alarm goes off. Such an irritating sound the car makes, I cringe. Gladly, no one in New York really ever pays attention to these things. I unlock my car door, hop inside, and grab my gun from the secret compartment under my seat and step outside. I take a few steps, but here a shuffling sound. I turn to my left and am face-to-face with my father. He punches me in the face and I land hard against my car. 


	4. Were Running Out Of Time

Chapter Four: Were Running Out Of Time  
  
"Your not really here," I say, closing my eyes. "Jeannie's fucking with me again."  
  
"Stop bullshitting yourself boy. I'm really here. Look at me when I'm talking to you," my father ordered me.  
  
"No," I shake my head.  
  
"What'd you say?"  
  
"I said no!"  
  
He looked at me with hatred in his eyes, like I had never took my time to appreciate the things he'd done for me. What has he done for me? Nothing. My father never thought I was any good to him. Always thought I was useless. So he'd beat me to teach me a lesson. Even if I didn't do anything, just because he was drinking. Was I afraid of my father? Yes. He did disappear one night though and never came home. The cops said he could've been killed but mom and I didn't care. That asshole was gone for good.  
  
For now at least. We were always in constant fear that he would return and we didn't have enough money to get a new home. He never did return though, and I was always worried he'd come back. Jeannie managed to surf around in the deepest parts of my memory and threw them right back at me. My father vanished and I was left alone in the morning sunset. My car still sounding of that annoying racket. I'll come back. I said, getting up and running to the subway.  
  
It was still early when I came to Terry's house. I probably looked like shit, but I didn't care for my looks, all I cared about was her. I knocked on her door. No answer. I tried again. Still nothing. I reached for the knob, the door was unlocked. I hoped nothing had happened to her. It's not usual to keep your door unlocked this early in the morning. Especially in New York.  
  
"Terry?" I spoke out. No answer. I'm not surprised. I have my gun out in front of me, checking her apartment. Everything seems in place, so I sit myself down in her chair, dozing off. I don't know how long I was out, but I heard the door creek open. There she was, seeming perfectly fine. Terry walks into her house, my heart racing.  
  
"Shouldn't leave your front door open." I say, and Terry seems overwhelmed to see me.  
  
"Oh my god," she says, almost dropping her bags.  
  
".Invites illegal entry," I finish my sentence.  
  
"Mike!" She exasperates, running over to me.  
  
We embrace each other. God! I missed hugging her. Her slender body presses against mine and the heat from her presence makes me glad to see she's alright. We pull back from each other, staring into one another's eyes, but I notice something else. Her nose has began to bleed Please tell me she didn't. God please. But I know what happened. She went on the site. "Terry. What did you do?"  
  
She looks at me with sadness in her eyes. "Why?" I continue, pleading in my head.  
  
"You just ran out didn't you?" Terry says.  
  
I would've come back. I wouldn't leave you forever. "More like a slow job."  
  
"You've got to go back."  
  
My head pounded and I quietly cried out in pain. Have to keep talking straight. Have to keep myself sane for Terry. "No. They can't help me now." The hospital didn't do shit for me, just let me sleep, ever so checking up on me. In the corner of my eye, I saw my father. I fought against my own will to get rid of him. "I'm just slipping in and out more and more."  
  
"Okay."  
  
"Running out of time," I say to her, indicating that she could loose her mind at any moment.  
  
"We gotta go."  
  
"Where are we going?"  
  
"To the morgue." 


	5. A Visit to the Morgue

Chapter Five: A Visit to the Morgue  
  
Why were we going to the morgue? I wondered, but I didn't question Terry, for she seemed to know what was going on with this case. I followed her to the car and let her drive, see was more into the world than I was. I told her what I saw on that site, as best as possible, trying not to bring up repressed memories. Terry told me she saw the same thing and even took a little visit to the mad doctor's laboratory. She told me Jeannie had tormented her too. I told Jeannie not to harm Terry, but she would've never listened anyway.  
  
We got to the morgue and I stepped out into the cold breeze. My head was hurting so bad, that a wave of nausea swept over me and I felt like I was going to throw up. I stopped walking, closed my eyes and put my head down. Terry rushed over to me and supported me on her shoulder. "I'm okay," I said and fixed myself, "lead the way."  
  
Terry held onto me the whole time as we made our way to that one particular room. Inside, the coroner waited for us there. Terry and her greeted each other, seeming to have met one another. The coroner pulls down the sheet, which hid the body before us. I could barley recognize her. It was Jeannie's mutilated body. Her rotting skin and disgusting corpse made me even sicker.  
  
"I found her in the sewer," Terry whispered to me.  
  
No wonder why her skin had a wet, soggy look to it, peeling off ever so often. Who knows how long she had been underwater, but she couldn't have been there for that long, because even if we had found her by the time Alistair killed her, there would be no flesh left. Jeannie's skin and organs would have been dissolved from the water.  
  
Terry actually went into that mucky water? That girl has guts.  
  
I'm amazed she actually dared to go into the sewers. Someone like her should be in the modeling industry. Okay, so maybe I'm fantasizing, but Terry is a beautiful person. Terry was never one of those stuck up bitches, she was different. Strange, but that's why I liked her. The coroner looked at the both of us, knowing there was something unhealthy to our look.  
  
She glanced at me, then Terry, then me again. She knew I was the most damaged out of the two of us. "Are you two okay? You don't look so good?" She says finally.  
  
"You should see it from our side," I say to her.  
  
The coroner starts to examine the corpse of Jeanie. "None of it matters, but someone performed an autopsy on this body a long time ago," she tells us. I didn't even notice. Jeannie's body had been cut up so badly, I didn't know what Alistair had done to her. "Look at the incisions," she continues, noticing for us to lean in closer.  
  
"Alistair. He cut her open while she was still alive," I say, looking at Jeannie's poor, rotting corpse. That fucking sick bastard! Alistair had no soul left. He didn't care what woman he murdered, he was a dysfunctional, perverted fuck. The coroner opens up Jeannie's body. My nausea returned to me, followed by an overwhelming sickness. She digs her hands down into Jeannie's chest, squishing sounds of body parts touching the examiner's hands. she then recoils her hands, taking out a plastic bag, with Jeannie's insides in the bag. Terry and I gag at the site. "Textbook procedure," the coroner says.  
  
I wanted to leave, wanted to get out of here. I couldn't stand this anymore, but I needed to know what was in Alistair's mind. "He cut her viscera, then when he was finished, bagged and sewed her up." Thanks for the details. The coroner continues to search through Jeannie's body. She pulls out a long, small cylinder object. It is covered with her own blood. The coroner cleans it with water.  
  
"What is it?" I ask.  
  
"She must've swallowed it before he killed her." she hands it to Terry.  
  
I can see now that it is a lipstick container, Jeannie's symbol of her beauty. Terry opens it and inside is a paper, she unfolds it. "The guilty must be punished," Terry reads the inscriptions.  
  
Turning it over, there are directions to a apartment. Most likely Alistair's. "So she didn't want a burial. She wants revenge."  
  
"Bingo," I assure her. 


	6. A Madman's Haven

Chapter Six: A Madman's Haven  
  
We left right away after that. Terry and the coroner said goodbye, as did I. Hopping in the car, I slouched back, as Terry started up the engine. I didn't feel as sick as before, but I was still ill. I thought about the Website, Jeannie, and the victims involved. Obviously, Jeannie was haunted a site in which Alistair had murdered her on.  
  
I remember coming across that site once, before Jeannie had died. That's where I tried to stop Alistair, but once Jeannie was murdered, he changed his Website address. I never thought Jeannie would be haunting that site. Forty-eight hours is how long you have to live before you die. What was the connection? I think about it for a few, but suddenly get it. "Two days," I say, "two days is how long Alistair tortured Jeannie before she died."  
  
"Knifes Mike. She died her worst nightmare," Terry told me.  
  
Of course! A vengeful spirit dies her worst fear in a matter of two days. She brings it upon those who log onto her site. Images of my father flash into the window. Anger on my father's face and fear on mine. "Ah shit Terry. I'm loosing it." He comes at me with his baseball bat. "I'm having trouble staying here," I close my eyes.  
  
"Mike just hold on okay," Terry tells me, concern in her voice.  
  
I shake my head and sooth myself, trying to get rid of the images of my abusive father. Alistair's house was on the outskirts of the city, a not so nice neighborhood. I could tell Terry was on ease about traveling over to this part of the city, but she was just as anxious as me to catch this lunatic. I calmed myself down and forcibly made myself think of other things.  
  
We had Alistair this time. We knew where he lived, so he couldn't run away now. We arrived at his house by mid-evening, and stepped out of the car. This day went by to fast for me. I had dozed at Terry's for quite some time, without realizing how long I was out. And now, it was night. I made a promise to myself that I would catch Alistair by the end of the night.  
  
The apartment sent of a winter chill and Terry shivered. I looked at her, concerned, and she gave me a nod that she was okay and to continue. Up the stairs we went, as Terry held onto that paper of directions. A dog barks in the background. Old fashioned music plays, fitting in with the style of the mood. Where the hell was it coming from? It sounded like a 1930's theme for a whacked out carousel.  
  
We made it to Alistair's front door. Fuck! I think, as I prepare myself for meeting this madman. I grab onto the door handle and twist it, but it won't open. He had locked his door. "Wait here," I tell Terry, and she moves out of the way. I hold my gun in my hands and kick the door in.  
  
It is dark inside and I can barley make out anything in the room. Only the artificial light of the TV laminates the room. I step inside, hand still on gun, and look around, as my eyes focus. Terry follows close behind me. On the TV, a black and white picture of an "Electroshock" session shows on the screen. But the doctor doesn't seem to be home. Where the fuck did he go? I make my way to his photo room and go inside. There are new pictures hanging on the wire, and when I glance at them, I see the horror. Many women are cut up, and death is close for them, as some are already dead. Blood is everywhere in the photo. I'm about to grab one for evidence, but Terry's scream is heard in the other room.  
  
Shit! I quickly follow the echoing noise and make my way into one of his many rooms. Terry looks horrified; as displayed bodies sit in giant test tubes. Each body has their upper skin layer torn off and only their muscle shows. "Oh my god!" She says.  
  
"Let's go," I tell her.  
  
"Great idea."  
  
We step out of that room and into the living room. I can tell Terry is still shaken up. I can understand, those displayed people were not the nicest of things to wonder into. She goes over to Alistair's desk and looks through his papers. I turn my direction the other way, and head to his kitchen. I don't really want to go in there. Who knows what horrors he hides in his fridge.  
  
"Mike! I found him," I hear Terry say.  
  
Thank God! I make my way over to her. "Where?"  
  
"Here," she says and hands me a photo of a steel mine.  
  
I look at it. Of course! The old Portage Steel Mill is the perfect place for him to be. It's at the end of the Hudson River, by all of the factories and industries. It's the ideal place to murder someone. No one ever really goes there, unless you work over in that area yourself, and everyone is too busy to care what the other person is doing. "Alright Terry. I'm calling for help," I tell her.  
  
I take out my cell phone and dial the all too familiar numbers. It rings on it's last, until he finally picks up the phone. "Better be important," Sykes tells me.  
  
I'm relieved he answered. I was afraid he wouldn't. "Sykes, I need your help," I say.  
  
"What. I'm wining here."  
  
Typical Sykes, playing his poker games again. "Look, I found the doctor."  
  
"So. Call the Fed.'s."  
  
"There's no time for that. I need backup."  
  
He pauses for a bit, but gives in. "Alright. Where is it?"  
  
"Crulen Tower. Portage Steel Mill."  
  
"You owe me," he says and hangs up.  
  
Thank you Sykes.  
  
We needed to gather any sort of evidence from Alistair's house that we could. I went back into the photo room and took some of his photos that were hung up. This would prove what the sick fuck had been doing. I walk to where Terry is and I see she has gathered some papers up.  
  
"We have to go there Terry," I tell her.  
  
"I know," she answers back, understanding what I had to do.  
  
We get out of Alistair's house and head to the car. I was glad to be out of his house, as was Terry. But the night wasn't over; for we needed to head to Crulen Tower to catch Alistair and bring him in. We both step into the car, as Terry starts it up and we head for the Steel Mill. 


	7. Too Bad This Show Always Has the Same En...

Chapter Seven: "Too Bad This Show Always Has the Same Ending"  
  
"Thank you for coming along with me Terry. Especially in the state that I'm in now," I say to her.  
  
"Mike, we're in this together," she tells me, "I can't possibly leave you alone like this."  
  
It was good to know she was watching over me, making sure that I was all right. I hated to put her through this, and didn't want anything to happen to her, but I did need her to make sure that I would get the job done. We make it to Portage Steel Mill finally, after a long drive and we both step out. The place looked haunted and was highlighted in darkness. I take out my gun and head inside, with Terry following me.  
  
The fires going on inside had lightened the inside of the building. It was warm in here, and I didn't like it. I didn't see it behind me and the fire blew, creating a noise so loud and heat so bad, that it scared the shit out of me. Jesus Christ! I whirl around, gun ready to be set off, but I calmed down, once I knew what it was. Terry wasn't too thrilled about what happened either.  
  
Chill out Mike. I tell myself and begin to walk. I had no idea where to go, but I swear I can hear the ramblings of a madman. I follow that noise and sure enough, there he is in all of his glory. Alistair Pratt, ready to helplessly kill one of his victims. "Drop it now! Drop the fucking knife now!" I yell at him.  
  
He stops what he's doing. "Bless my soul. Detective Reilly. So glad you could finally make it to the party, and you brought a date," he tells me.  
  
"Get away from her! I'm not going to fire a fucking warning shot!" I wanted to so much kill this bastard right now, but he immediately throws himself behind the gurney and places the knife to the poor woman's throat.  
  
"Guns are, so impersonal and artless. If you want to hurt someone intimately, you have to get up close and personal."  
  
More of his psycho babble. God I fucking hated when he did that. "You tortured her, you should be doing her a favor," I tell him, indicating he should let her go now.  
  
I point my gun at the two. "You won't shoot her. You suffer from the hero's curse of hope."  
  
"Yea I've got hope. I hope my first shot blows your fucking head off!" God Dammit! Alistair was really pissing me off with his mumbling.  
  
"If you kill her, you'll have no one to hide behind," Terry finally speaks up.  
  
Alistair grins. "I don't want to spoil things for you, but if your expecting the Calvary to just show up and save the day, you're going to be disappointed, the Calvary's right here."  
  
What the hell is he talking about now? I give him a confused look. There's no way Sykes made it here before me. "Oh my god!" Terry yells. I turn and look at her frightened face, then to where she is looking. "Oh fuck!" I whisper. There's Sykes. He did make it here before me, but I am sorry he did. Sykes had been hung to the wall, a hole in his chest, horror on his dead face. Alistair took out his insides, he was performing a live autopsy.  
  
"Not a very nice person, Mr. Sykes. All the needing habits. Too bad this show always has the same ending," Alistair glees. I was too shocked to say anything. Now this harebrained fuck really needed to pay.  
  
"No. Not this time. Someone wants revenge," Terry says and holds up Jeannie's lipstick.  
  
Alistair had a look of surprise on his face, knowing exactly whom that container belonged to and I knew it was the right time to make my move. I snapped out of my trance and shot Alistair in his knee, without any sympathy. He went down and screamed in agony. Terry went over the gurney and began to help the tied up woman. I drew closer and closer to Alistair, holding my gun.  
  
He had his face away from me and I didn't see it. I didn't know what was coming next, for he sprung up, gun in hand, and released the trigger. It pierced my skin so quickly, I didn't realize it happened at first, but then I felt the pain. The terrible pain emitting from my chest and I felt the liquid spill out. It can't be. He didn't just fucking shoot me? I look down at where the pain was coming from and sure enough, there was blood on my shirt. Oh Fuck!  
  
"No!" Terry screams, seeing what had just happened.  
  
I try standing, but my head begins to spin. Blood starts coming out of my mouth and I am so shocked that I stumble backwards, all the while, trying to stay on foot. Alistair seems to laugh and he slowly gets up, dropping Syke's gun to the floor. 


	8. The Last Moments

Chapter Eight: The Last Moments  
  
Terry leaves the victim alone, running over to me, but not before freeing her. She runs over to Alistair, who had been getting up, and forcefully jabs a scalpel into his leg. Alistair screams in pain and falls down. Alistair's victim starts walking, trying to stand up right, but falls over, exhausted. I, myself begin to feel very tired and light-headed, as I watch in a trance as Terry kneels down to me. I felt like falling asleep and wishing that the pain was gone. "Mike come on... Look at me. Don't leave me... Hold on. Look at me... Mike, look at me!" Terry yells at me, trying to keep me awake, but I notice Alistair has been creeping up behind her the whole time.  
  
He looks at me, smiling wickedly, knowing that I am going to die, being very pleased with what he did. Terry! Terry turn around! Fuck! Terry! I yell inside my mind, warning her, but for some reason, I am not able to speak. Alistair's bullet was killing me slowly, and I couldn't even speak to the one I loved. I watch, helplessly, as Alistair grabs Terry and drags her over to the gurney. She screams, and I am left alone to watch.  
  
Don't you fucking touch her! I wanted to yell in Alistair's face. I wanted to shoot him dead for what he was planning on doing to Terry. There was no way he was going to get away with this, no way Terry was going to end up like Jeannie. I'm fucking dying and all I can do is watch as Alistair traps one of Terry's hands. I couldn't die without doing something to stop him, I had to make him stop.  
  
The pain starting creeping up to my lungs and I begin having a hard time breathing, a hard time seeing and a hard time thinking straight. I struggle, starting to crawl upon the floor, looking for anything to stop him, but I know it's useless. As if some miracle happened, I stumble upon a keyboard. I look up and there is a computer screen in front of me. I nearly thank God.  
  
I manage to get online and start typing the words 'www.feardotcom.com.' "Attractive women like you sell through the roof. Just like Jeannie," Alistair raves on.  
  
I hit the enter key and watch the intro to Jeannie's site. "Alistair!" I choke out. Poor Terry is plastered against the gurney, with Alistair ready to cut her open. "Alistair!" I yell with all my strength. This time he finally turns to look at me.  
  
He watches the computer screen in horror and begins backing up, releasing Terry. He gives a scream of despair and backs harshly into the wall. Jeannie has entered the madman's mind and is slowly killing him through his thoughts. I knew what was happening to him, she did it to all of her victims. Alistair starts sliding down the wall, blood oozing out, and slowly dies.  
  
I did it! We did it Terry! The doctor can kill no more. We won!  
  
I'm so tired. Can't breathe anymore.Terry! I never got to tell you how I felt. I never got to say I loved you! Never got to tell you I cared. Oh God! Don't let me die now. I need to see her again.  
  
I couldn't see anything anymore, and everything grew dark.  
  
Terry? Where are you? Please! Let me see her one last time before I go. Please. Can't see, can't think, can't breathe. Choking for air... Struggling for life, grasping for any ounce of energy left. My mind. can't think straight. It's over.It's over. I'll never see her again. I love you Terry! I love you.!  
  
.... . . . . . . 


	9. I'll Be Your Guardian Angel

Chapter Nine: I'll be Your Guardian Angel  
  
"Oh my god! No Mike!" Her voice echoes.  
  
I vaguely see her as she wraps her body around my own. Shades of Grey fill my vision, as everything around me has become dull and colorless. I cannot feel her warmth on my own body, in-fact, I can't feel anything. I died. But why am I still inside this body? Why haven't I gone to heaven, or hell, or anyplace? Why is my body barricading my soul from leaving? Why haven't I moved on?  
  
She cries for the longest time before calling for help. Terry still sobs on my chest, refusing to believe I have passed on. I glance over at Alistair's body. He is gone. His soul had nothing in the afterlife, so it went to he went to his rightful place. Alistair's victim makes her way over to Terry, who then releases her grip upon me and faces her. "Thank you," she chokes out. "If you hadn't have come sooner, I would have been dead."  
  
Terry calls the police and they arrive shortly. I recognize some of the men as they look at me in pity. They can't believe that I got myself killed. For some reason, I was the last to be picked up out of the bodies. Sykes was first, then came Alistair, and lastly was me. I think they had a hard time accepting what my fate became. Poor Terry stays by my body, as they cover me up. Wait! Don't cover me up yet. I need to see her.  
  
I felt myself, or what was left of me, float of my body and out from the covering. I had been free from my shell, but for some reason I just stay there. I look at Terry, as tears cover her cheeks. She was beautiful, even when she was upset. She talks to the police and they hand her some papers to fill out. She would have to be doing police work for some time.  
  
I follow her outside and to her car. I place myself upon the passenger's seat, Terry in the driver's seat, and we drive off. I know she can't see my soul, but I watch her. I watch as she tries to hide back tears and make it back to her house. She takes in with her some paperwork from the back. She would be filling out these papers for some time, for they included many of the things that happened tonight, one of them describing my death.  
  
I follow her to her room and she turns and stares straight at me, like she knew that something was there. "Mike?" I hear Terry whisper.  
  
'I'm here,' I tell her, but I know she can't hear me.  
  
Terry nearly scolds herself for being so dumb and unlocks her door. She steps inside, locks the door behind her, and throws the papers on the table. Terry stands there for a minute, anger and sadness bellowed up inside her, while I try to comfort her. She starts crying, as she feels my touch.  
  
Her cat comes to her, but sees me. He doesn't meow, or hiss, or do anything, but just walks away. He knows my presence is here and he knows that I am trying to make her feel better, so he backs off, letting me consort her. Terry doesn't know what's going on. She doesn't know if I'm really here or not.  
  
'But I am here Terry,' I assure her.  
  
Terry goes into her room and collapses in her bed. Then she sleeps. Her cat jumps on the bed and cuddles next to her. Then she sleeps for the longest time, trying to erase the night, trying to forget everything that has happened. I watch her once more. God! She was so beautiful. Why didn't I tell her how I felt? I should have said something to her, but I didn't. I never let my emotions take the better of me.  
  
This wasn't fair! I died and I never told the woman I loved my true feelings. I loved her more than anything else in this world. I'm so glad I met her, but I never wanted any of this to happen to her. I needed to let her know, so I got up and went to the phone in the kitchen, a new plan embedded in my mind. I dialed her phone number into her own phone and hung up.  
  
The phone rang a few times before I eventually saw her wake up and pick up the phone. "Hello?" I hear her say and pick up the phone myself.  
  
'Terry. I doubt you can hear me. I just wanted to say I love you," I say.  
  
"Hello?" She says again and then hangs up. She stares off, wondering if she heard me or not.  
  
At least it was worth a try, I say, and hang up the other end. Terry starts petting her cat and I know she is thinking about me.  
  
'Don't worry Terry. I'm here now and I won't let anything happen to you. I'll watch over you, I'll protect you.' This is my vow.  
  
I go to her room and sit down in the chair. Terry gives a small smile and I know she knows that I am here now. "I love you too Mike," she says and lays her head back down on the pillow, tears forming in her eyes.  
  
I smile back at her. I'm glad she got my message.  
  
The End 


End file.
